Ohio Golf Journal April 2019

Interestingly, many golfers have been playing with this rule long before it was created, although illegally and with one or no penalty strokes. Primarily for pace of play reasons To properly use this alternative to stroke and distance… • Determine the spot where your golf ball went out of bounds or is likely to be lost, • Find the nearest fairway edge, no closer to the hole, • Drop your golf ball within 2 club lengths of this spot, • Add two penalty strokes. A golfer still has the option to return to the location of their last stroke for a one stroke penalty, rather than use this new local rule option. Like many of the new rules, the changes and options will help some while others may find older choices more beneficial. That’s the great thing about golf, you have choices in how you play a round of golf. The new rules of golf from the USGA are meant to speed up play and make the game more efficient. Check the USGA website: http://www. usga.org/rules-hub.html for more graphics and clarification.